Substrates having one or more layers of one or more thin-film material deposited thereupon may be used in many applications in the field of electronics. The thickness of such thin-film may range from about a few hundred angstroms to several micrometers.
Due to a variety of reasons including for example, differences in properties of the substrate material and that of the material used for the thin-film deposition, mechanical stress may develop in the thin-film. Mechanical stress developed in the thin-film can be either compressive or tensile. In a substrate having the thin-film deposited on top, development of compressive stress in the thin-film may cause the substrate to bow in a concave direction while development of tensile stress in the thin-film may cause the substrate to bow in a convex direction. Thus, in instances in which a planar substrate is subjected to thin-film deposition, compressive as well as tensile stresses developed in the thin-film may cause a surface of the substrate to deviate from planarity. Mechanical stress in thin-films is a potential cause of the substrate failure due to delamination and cracking of thin-films.